Online resources about transitions
and Transition effects

For an example of how to use animation presets to create
custom transitions, see this entry in Stu Maschwitz’s ProLost
blog. From this page, you can download the Film Burn animation preset,
which adds film-like flicker to layers and adds a film burn transition
to the ends of the durations of layers.

Chris Zwar provides an example project on his website that uses the Displacement
Map effect, the Turbulent Displace effect, the Texturize effect,
and a combination of Blur and Color Correction effects to create
a transition in which an image appears as a watercolor image washed
onto a rough piece of paper.

Carl Larsen provides a tutorial on the Creative COW website that shows how
to use the Motion Tile effect to create a whip-pan transition between
two layers.

Dave Scotland provides a video tutorial on the CG Swot website that uses the Fractal
Noise effect to create a transition between still images.

About Transition effects and the
Transition Completion property

All Transition effects except the Iris Wipe effect have a Transition Completion property. When this property is 100%, the transition is complete, and the underlying layers show through; the layer to which the effect is applied is entirely transparent. You typically animate this property from 0% to 100% over the time of the transition.

Block Dissolve effect

The Block Dissolve effect makes a layer disappear in
random blocks. The width and height of the blocks, in pixels, can
be set independently. At Draft quality, the blocks are placed with
pixel precision and have sharply defined edges; at Best quality,
the blocks can be positioned with subpixel precision and have soft
edges.

Card Wipe effect

This effect simulates a group of cards displaying a picture and then flipping to display another picture. Card Wipe provides control over the number of rows and columns of cards, the flip direction, and the transition direction (including the ability to use a gradient to determine flip order). You can also control randomness and jitter to make the effect appear more realistic. By varying the rows and columns, you can also create venetian blind and Chinese lantern effects.

The Card Wipe effect shares many controls with the Card Dance effect.

This effect works with 8-bpc color.

Original (upper-left), and with effect applied (lower-left
and right)

Basic controls

Transition Width

The width of the area that actively changes from the original to
the new image.

Back Layer

The layer that appears in segments on the backs of the cards.
You can use any layer in the composition; its Video switch can
even be turned off. If the layer has effects or masks, precompose
the layer first.

Rows & Columns

Specifies the interaction of the numbers of rows and columns. Independent
makes both the Rows and Columns sliders active. Columns Follows Rows
makes only the Rows slider active. If you choose this option, the
number of columns is always the same as the number of rows.

Rows

The number of rows, up to 1000.

Columns

The number of columns, up to 1000, unless Columns Follows Rows is selected.

Note:

Rows and columns are always evenly distributed across a layer, so unusually shaped rectangular tiles don’t appear along the edges of a layer, unless you’re using an alpha channel.

Card Scale

The size of the cards. A value smaller than 1 scales the
cards down, revealing the underlying layer in the gaps. A value
greater than 1 scales the cards up, creating a blocky mosaic as
they overlap each other.

Flip Axis

The axis around which each card flips.

Flip Direction

The direction in which the cards flip around their axes.

Flip Order

The direction in which the transition occurs. You can also
use a gradient to define a custom flip order: Cards flip first where
the gradient is black and last where the gradient is white.

Gradient Layer

The gradient layer to use for the Flip Order. You can use
any layer in the composition.

Timing Randomness

Randomizes the timing of the transition. If this control
is set to 0, the cards flip in order. The higher the value, the
more random the order in which the cards flip.

Camera System

Whether to use the effect’s Camera Position properties, the effect’s
Corner Pins properties, or the default composition camera and light positions
to render 3D images of the cards.

Camera Position controls

X Rotation, Y Rotation, Z Rotation

Rotate the camera around the corresponding axis. Use these
controls to look at the cards from the top, side, back, or any other
angle.

X, Y Position

Where the camera is positioned in x,y space.

Z Position

Where the camera is positioned along the z axis. Smaller
numbers move the camera closer to the cards, and larger numbers
move the camera away from the cards.

Focal Length

The distance from the camera to the image. Smaller numbers zoom
in.

Transform Order

The order in which the camera rotates around its three axes, and
whether the camera rotates before or after it’s positioned using
the other Camera Position controls.

Corner Pins controls

Corner Pinning is an alternative camera control
system. Use it as an aid for compositing the result of the effect
into a scene on a flat surface that is tilted with respect to the
frame.

Upper Left Corner, Upper Right Corner,
Lower Left Corner, Lower Right Corner

Where to attach each of the corners of the layer.

Auto Focal Length

Controls the perspective of the effect during the animation. If
Auto Focal Length is unselected, the focal length you specify is
used to find a camera position and orientation that place the corners
of the layer at the corner pins, if possible. If not, the layer
is replaced by its outline, drawn between the pins. If Auto Focal
Length is selected, the focal length required to match the corner
points is used, if possible. If not, it interpolates the correct
value from nearby frames.

Focal Length

Overrides the other settings if the results you’ve obtained
aren’t what you need. If you set the Focal Length to something that
doesn’t correspond to what the focal length would be if the pins
were actually in that configuration, the image may look unusual
(strangely sheared, for example). But if you know the focal length
that you are trying to match, this control is the easiest way to
get correct results.

Jitter controls

Adding jitter (Position Jitter and Rotation
Jitter) makes this transition more realistic. Jitter works on the
cards before, during, and after the transition occurs. If you want
the jitter to happen only during the transition, start with the
Jitter Amount at 0, animate it up to the desired amount during the
transition, and then animate it back down to 0 at the completion
of the transition.

Position Jitter

Specifies the amount and speed of jitter at the x, y, and
z axes. X, Y, and Z Jitter Amount specify the amount of extraneous
movement. The X, Y, and Z Jitter Speed values specify the speed
of jitter for each Jitter Amount option.

Rotation Jitter

Specifies the amount and speed of rotation jitter around
the x, y, and z axes. X, Y, and Z Rotation Jitter Amount specify
the amount of rotational jitter along an axis. A value of 90° makes
it possible for a card to rotate up to 90° in either direction.
The X, Y, and Z Rot Jitter Speed values specify the speed of rotational
jitter.

Gradient Wipe effect

The Gradient Wipe effect causes pixels in the layer
to become transparent based on the luminance values of corresponding
pixels in another layer, called the gradient layer.
Dark pixels in the gradient layer cause the corresponding pixels
to become transparent at a lower Transition Completion value. For
example, a simple grayscale gradient layer that goes from black
on the left to white on the right causes the underlying layer to
be revealed from left to right as Transition Completion increases.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.

Original (upper-left), and with effect applied (lower-left
and right)

The gradient layer can be a still image or a moving image. The
gradient layer must be in the same composition as the layer to which
you apply Gradient Wipe.

You can create gradient layers in many ways, such as using the
Ramp effect or creating them in Photoshop or Illustrator.

Transition Softness

The degree to which the transition is gradual for each pixel. If
this value is 0%, pixels in the layer to which the effect is applied
are either completely opaque or completely transparent. If this
value is greater than 0%, pixels are semitransparent at the intermediate
stages of the transition.

Gradient Placement

How the pixels of the gradient layer are mapped to the pixels
of the layer to which the effect is applied:

Tile Gradient

Uses multiple tiled copies of the gradient layer.

Center Gradient

Uses a single instance of the gradient layer in the center
of the layer.

Stretch Gradient To Fit

Resizes the gradient layer horizontally and vertically to fit
the entire area of the layer.

Invert Gradient

Inverts the influence of the gradient layer; lighter pixels
in the gradient layer create transparency at a lower Transition
Completion value than do darker pixels.

Iris Wipe effect

The Iris Wipe effect creates a radial transition that reveals an underlying layer. Specify the number of points used to create the iris using a range of 6 to 32 points, and specify whether an inner radius is used. If Use Inner Radius is selected, you can specify values for both Inner Radius and Outer Radius; the iris isn’t visible if Outer Radius, Inner Radius, or both are set to 0. The iris is roundest if both Outer Radius and Inner Radius are set to the same value.

The Iris Wipe effect is the only Transition effect that doesn’t have a Transition Completion property. To animate the Iris Wipe effect to expose the underlying layers, animate the Radius properties.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color. In After Effects CS6 or later, this effect works in 32-bit color.

Linear Wipe effect

The Linear Wipe effect performs a simple linear wipe
of a layer in a specified direction. At Draft quality, the edge
of the wipe isn’t anti-aliased; at Best quality, the edge of the
wipe is anti-aliased and the feather is smooth.

Wipe Angle

The direction that the wipe travels. For example, at 90°
the wipe travels from left to right.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color. In After Effects
CS6 or later, this effect works in 32-bit color.

Original (upper-left), and with effect applied (lower-left
and right)

In a video tutorial on the Artbeats
website, Steve Holmes demonstrates the use of non-animated
instances of the Linear Wipe effect to crop a layer from various angles
with softly feathered edges.

Venetian Blinds effect

The Venetian Blinds effect reveals an underlying layer
using strips of specified direction and width. At Draft quality,
the strips are animated with pixel precision; at Best quality, the
strips are animated with subpixel precision.